Every subject has certain terms that are essential for an accurate
description and understanding of that subject. When doing information
retrieval these are often called keywords. Subject Headings are a
special kind of keyword and are particularly helpful when you are
searching print and electronic indexes.
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Keywords
are significant words or phrases in the title, abstract, or text of a
work that describe the primary subject content of that work. A
keyword search looks for words anywhere in the
bibliographic record
or document text, therefore you can retrieve items that are not
relevant to the subject you are researching.
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Subject Headings
(frequently called descriptors) are a special kind of keyword. They
are formally defined words or phrases that are used by indexers to
specifically describe the contents of documents and non-text materials.
They are also used to list together the books, journal articles, and
other materials on a subject in a library catalog or an index (print
or electronic). A subject search looks for words in the
subject heading (descriptor and identifier)
fields
therefore you will retrieve documents that are generally relevant to
the subject you are researching.
For effective information retrieval, you need to identify relevant keywords
and subject headings.
Make a list of these as you read for an overview of your
research subject. This list can be organized into a
concept table
which help you see the relationships between the primary and secondary
concepts of your research subject.
